Importance of Site Speed for SEO

One of the key ranking factors that SEO Experts as well as site owners should be concerned about in creating a website is site speed.

Site Speed reflects how quickly your pages load in response to web requests. It is one of Google’s search ranking algorithms signal or usability metrics that is considered when determining search engine rankings.

In matters of SEO, the importance of faster Site Speed is as follows:

• Improve User Experience. With Google currently focusing on providing great user experience to its searchers, having faster sites (page load time) will obviously make users happy (as users don’t usually want to wait) and in turn will make Google happy.

• Improve your Search Engine Ranking. As Google has announced, they consider site speed as a ranking algorithm. So if you speed up your site speed, you will definitely rank higher in Google. But remember, your faster site speed must be in conjunction with your contents, which must be of high-quality and relevant.

• Increase Conversion Rate. One of your aims for your SEO is to increase your conversion. And according to research, improving one’s site speed can increase your conversion. Every website owner should consider that every website visitor has the potential to become a costumer, or a lost opportunity. Having faster load time can increase customer satisfaction as they would not anymore need to wait, making their transactions with you faster. Improving your site speed will directly correlate to the number of successful form fills, revenues and leads generated. If your website takes longer than two seconds to load, your visitors may never see the landing page or the form on your conversion page; thus, lowering your ROI. Improved site speed, along with design and content will all work together to drive your conversion ratios.

• Makes Good Impression. In the world of the SEO and SEM, the first exposure to your brand/business is your website for many of your potential customers. Your website is the first time and place that users are able to interact with your brand. So, if you have a slow load time, you will be giving the impression that it would not be easy to buy from, or interact with, your company. But, if your site speed is fast, then you’ll be building good impression, making your prospects see you as a good site to transact with. In addition, according to a study by Forrester Research published in January 2010, it suggests that users remember slow sites and consciously remember not to return.

• Establish Trust. Good impressions will build trust. With internet users being conscious of the fast site speeds of sites like Google and Amazon, having a slow load time may result in your visitor becoming frustrated or to establish a lack of trust in your messaging, regardless of the market you are serving.